One Week's Vacation
by Ni Oxx
Summary: What happens when each of the shipgirls who wears glasses goes on a date with every other shipgirl who wears glasses? Find out!
1. Chapter 0: The Setup

Choukai, I-8, Makigumo, and Mochizuki were relaxing in the bedroom that Mochizuki shared with her sisters Nagatsuki, Uzuki, Satsuki, and Yayoi. The shift at the naval base's library had ended about twenty minutes ago, and the four of them usually came back to Mochizuki's place to hang out after work until Houshou's restaurant opened up in the evening, because Mochizuki's room was the biggest. Mochizuki sat playing her Gamestation in her underwear at the low round wooden table in the center of the room, which was large enough for all twelve of the Mutsuki class to sit around, if they squeezed close. Makigumo and I-8 sat back to back on Mochizuki's bed, which was one of the bottom bunks, with a pillow between them, reading. Choukai sat just about across from Mochizuki at the table, interrogating yet another book on naval strategy. It was Friday, around four-thirty.

The intercom crackled, then Nagato's deep voice announced, "Attention all ships! Operations at this naval base will be suspended for one week starting tomorrow, to allow for much-needed renovations to be done on its facilities! You are all free to leave the base, and are encouraged to do so, to get some much-needed vacation time! Stop by the Admiral's office to receive your vouchers for staying at nearby hotels! That is all!" The intercom crackled.

"Next week is vacation?" said Makigumo, to I-8.

"It seems so. That's unusual. But I suppose a vacation is welcome."

"And so are the renovations," said Choukai, not looking up from her book.

"Vacation?" said Mochizuki, to her Gamestation, "What for?"

"Weren't you listening just now, Mochizuki?" said Choukai. "Nagato-sempai said that it was because of renovations."

"Ah," murmured Mochizuki.

A moment passed, in which Mochizuki cursed under her breath at her game.

"How should we spend it?" asked Choukai, nudging her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "It's come as a surprise, so I don't have anything planned."

Makigumo lifted her eyes from her book. _I want to spend more time with I-8-neesan_ , she thought. _Outside of work, like a date…_ _E-eh?_ "A d-d-date?!" she squeaked.

"Ah. Good idea," said Mochizuki, leaning with her Gamestation into a turn.

I-8 closed her book, and turned toward the center of the room. She looked at Makigumo, who was now to her right. She said, "A date? That's an interesting idea. What did you have in mind, Makigumo-chan?"

Obscuring her mouth with her book, Makigumo said, "I thought we could…spend time together, outside of work…"

"Ah. I'm in," said Mochizuki, jerking her Gamestation upward to make her car fly higher over a jump.

"That sounds like fun," said Choukai.

Makigumo was too embarrassed from letting "date" slip out to attempt to clarify that she did not intend for it to be a group activity, and so the room relapsed into silence.

* * *

It was a little before six o'clock, and the four decided to head over to Houshou's place for dinner. Houshou's restaurant was almost on the other end of the naval base campus from the destroyer dorms where Mochizuki lived, and it took about fifteen minutes to walk there, if one didn't hurry.

Houshou's restaurant was the base's mess hall. It had the long communal tables that would be expected in a mess hall, but the rest was much homier. There was a wooden bar with wooden stools, the floor was wood, the culinary staff were a rotating roster selected weekly from all the shipgirls, and most of all, Houshou was the proprietress. From letting destroyers like little Samidare fall asleep sucking her thumb on her lap, to listening to the carriers' grievances and past-life-memories, and occasionally drying the tears of both, Houshou had at some point acted like a mother to every ship on the base. There was no one else from whom the shipgirls would rather take their meals than Houshou.

As the four entered Houshou's place, she greeted them by name. They were the first to arrive, except for Akagi, Kaga, Shoukaku, and Zuikaku, who had likely just returned from combat exercises. They sat toward the back of the room, chowing down like maniacs. Makigumo and company sat down at the long table nearest the bar, which was on the left as they entered, with Makigumo and Choukai sitting with their backs toward the bar.

Once they got settled, Houshou came over from behind the bar, and presented them with today's handwritten menu. "What would you girls like to eat today?"

Makigumo hugged Houshou's waist from her seat. "Mo-…Houshou-san! I love you!"

"My, my! I love you, too, Makigumo-chan!" said Houshou, with her warm voice, as she hugged Makigumo to her left side.

Mochizuki stretched her arms out across the table to Houshou. "Ah, me too."

Houshou reached over to her right and patted Mochizuki's head. "I love you, too, of course, Mochizuki." She regarded Choukai and I-8 with a smile. "I love all of you girls."

Choukai blushed, and looked down at her hands on the table. "Yeah, I…love you, too, Houshou-san…"

I-8 opened the book that she had brought with her, and tried to use it to hide her hot red nose.

Houshou curled her hands and put them on her hips. "I-8, it's bad manners to read at the dinner table. Please put your book away for a little while, alright?"

"S-sorry," said I-8. She closed her book and gingerly laid it down on the table, now more embarrassed than before.

After a thoughtful moment, Houshou asked, "Has everyone decided what they wanted to eat?"

"Ehhh, ramen for me," said Mochizuki.

"Ramen for me, as well!" said Makigumo.

"Why not ramen?" said Choukai.

"Make that _vier_ orders of ramen, please," said I-8.

A crash and Akatsuki's voice came from the kitchen.

"Please excuse me, girls. We'll have your orders out soon." Houshou strode expeditiously toward the kitchen. "Akatsuki," she called, "are you alright?"

* * *

At about five after six, four steaming, fragrant bowls of ramen had just made their way to the table. Choukai had just picked up her chopsticks when she saw Ooyodo come in together with Inazuma, presumably from the finance department, where they worked together to minimize (the Admiral's) overspending at the base.

Choukai beckoned to Ooyodo. "Ooyodo-san! Could I have a minute of your time?"

Inazuma and Ooyodo parted ways, and Ooyodo came over to the group's table. "Choukai-san, right? What's the matter?"

"Yes, that's correct. Do you have any plans for this week, Ooyodo-san?"

"Why no, none at all."

"Well, my friends here and I are planning an 'all shipgirls who wear glasses' group date, and we were wondering if you'd like to join us, especially with the vacation coming up and all."

Ooyodo thought for a moment, then said, "That sounds like fun, Choukai-san. I accept your invitation."

"Yay, yay!" said Mochizuki, stretching her arms out toward Ooyodo. "Ooyodo-san, high five!"

I-8 spoke up. "It's more the merrier, Choukai-san, but where did you get ' _all shipgirls who wear glasses_ ' group date from?"

"That was Makigumo's idea, wasn't it?"

"E-eh? Mine?!"

I-8 said, "Makigumo brought the group date idea up, but I thought she meant just us four."

"A~h. Since all of us who were in the room at the time wear glasses, I assumed that Makigumo-chan wanted _all_ of the girls who wear glasses to go on a date, to get to know each other better."

"I like Choukai-sempai's mistake better," said Mochizuki.

"So do I!" said Makigumo, trying not to laugh.

"Don't call it a mistake!" said Choukai.

I-8 said, "Anyway, Ooyodo-san, why don't you eat with us? We've only just started."

"Well, that sounds dandy. Houshou-san, if you're not too busy!"

* * *

Around ten past six, a gust of wind blew the steam from the group's food sideways as Shimakaze and Amatsukaze streaked into the restaurant, which was the finish line of today's umpteenth race. The two were immediately caught and scolded by Houshou for speeding, then kindly asked by the same Houshou what they felt like eating. Soon after, Katori came in with Tatsuta, Atago, Myoukou, and Takao, and most of the base's older destroyers, whom they'd just been teaching. Tenryuu was close behind, leading a group of the younger destroyers, among whom were Yukikaze, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Suzukaze, and, of course, Samidare. Shimakaze and Amatsukaze were also in Tenryuu's care, but had raced ahead. After she'd found that attempting to scold them away from speed proved fruitless, Tenryuu had decided to just let them race, on the rationale that speed was probably more likely to get a warship out of trouble than into it. Probably.

Makigumo waved to Katori, her sleeve flapping. "Katori-sensei!"

Katori didn't seem to notice, and kept talking to Tatsuta.

Mochizuki stretched her arms out toward Katori, and joined Makigumo in waving at her. "Katori-sensei!"

"My, my," said Tatsuta. She nudged Katori. "It seems like someone is trying to get your attention."

"Katori-sensei, over here!"

"Please excuse me, Tatsuta-san." Katori came over to the group's table. "What is it, girls? Is everyone being good, or does someone need disciplining?"

"Katori-sensei," said Mochizuki, "please come on a date with us!"

"Katori-sensei," echoed Makigumo, "please go out with us!"

"E-ehh?" Katori fidgeted with the tassels on her left epaulette. "T-this is very sudden, girls. I don't know quite how to react…"

Choukai cut in. "Sensei, please don't misunderstand. We're planning an 'all shipgirls with glasses' group date this coming week, and we want you to participate, if you don't have anything planned already."

"Ah, that sounds fun…but you don't need someone like _me_ hovering over you, surely-"

Katori felt a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Sensei. These girls might get awfully rowdy if they're left to rampage about the city without a responsible chaperone to keep them disciplined," whispered Tatsuta's voice. "I'm going to spend the vacation with Tenryuu-chan, so I can't watch over them. What if they begin chasing cats, or scaring the local populace, or stealing children? We can't have that, can we?"

"Th-that's right!" said Katori. "I'll accompany you girls on your date! B-but only as a chaperone, you must understand."

"Yay!" said Makigumo and Mochizuki.

"Sensei, why don't you eat with us?" said Ooyodo.

"Well, I see no reason why not," said Katori.

"What'll you have, Sensei?" asked Houshou's voice, where Tatsuta's was just before.

Katori gave a start. "Tatsu-…? H-Houshou-san! I didn't expect to see you there~!" She examined what the others at the table were eating. "Why not ramen, if you please?"

"Fu fu fu, ramen sure is popular tonight. It'll be out in a few minutes, Sensei."

* * *

At exactly fifteen after six, a graceful flowing of long, fragrant locks announced the joint arrival of Murakumo and Hatsuharu.

"We are so pleased that Murakumo-dono would honor us with her company," said Hatsuharu behind her fan.

"Well, seeing as you're not a simpleton, it's perfectly natural for us to associate, isn't it?" said Murakumo, fidgeting with one of her gloves and avoiding eye contact.

"Ahh, those two are so elegant," said Choukai. "Just looking at them makes me feel proud to be Japanese!"

"Ah. For me, that's Yamato-san," said Mochizuki.

"For me, that has to be Houshou-san!" said Makigumo.

"Don't count out Shouhou-san…when she keeps her clothes on," said I-8.

"Those two are so disciplined, aren't they?" said Katori, with dreamy eyes.

"And well-mannered," Ooyodo added.

* * *

At about six-twenty, the Kongou class arrived.

"Kirishima-sempai!" called Choukai.

* * *

It was about six-thirty, and by now, what had been the near-silence of the canteen, punctuated by the occasional clang of cookware from the kitchen had grown into the dull roar of almost everyone at the base eating and talking, pierced by peals of clamorous laughter and the occasional chanting of a sea shanty. The noise dipped into a lull as the Yamato sisters strode in. Musashi sat down at the bar, with her older sister Yamato to her right and Jun'you to her left. As per usual, she asked for what had come to be known as the "Musashi Burger," which came stacked high with toppings, drizzled with Houshou's special sauce, and was made with a patty made of two pounds of pure beef. Akagi was the only other ship who had ever finished one.

Choukai hesitated. Even from behind, Musashi was intimidating. The Yamato sisters stood about eight feet tall, and could hold Akagi on one arm and Kaga on the other. Not that Yamato had ever participated in such horseplay.

Makigumo gulped. Then she found her resolve. _This is for I-8-neesan!_ She slid her chair out. She crept up to Musashi, then tugged gently on the upper edge of Musashi's skirt. "E-excuse me, Musashi-san, I had something I wanted to-"

"Aangh?!" Musashi looked back over her shoulder, down at Makigumo, with a frighteningly angry face.

"Ighiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~!" Makigumo almost wet herself. Even sitting on her bar stool, Musashi was much taller than Makigumo, and she looked very strong and scary to Makigumo.

Makigumo thought she was done for, until she saw the great brown-skinned battleship, who had turned around to face her, begin laughing. "Nya ha ha ha! You little destroyers are all so cute I can't help but tease ya," Musashi boomed as she tousled Makigumo's hair with her huge left hand. Without elegance or effort, Musashi lifted Makigumo by her armpits and put her down in her lap, facing her. Makigumo could have almost fit onto just one of Musashi's toned thighs. "Ya~h! So who are you, then?"

"I'm…M-M-Makigumo! S-s-second of the Yuugumo-class destroyers!"

Musashi lifted Makigumo by her underarms again, as if she were playing with a doll. "Nya ha ha! Nice ta meetcha, Makigumo-chan!" She set Makigumo back down on her lap. "Now, what'd ya want to talk about?"

"Umm…ah, w-well, I wanted to-"

"S'rowdy in here! Speak up so I can hear ya!" boomed Musashi, even though she was easily the rowdiest ship in the room, perhaps save for Jun'you.

Makigumo cleared her throat. "W-well, my friends and I-"

"Who?"

"Well, there's me, I-8-neesan, Choukai-sa-"

"Oh! The way ya adjust your glasses - that's pretty cute!"

"Fueh?" Makigumo's cheeks grew hot. She realized she was frustrated with Musashi's interruptions. "Mou~! Musashi-san, are you listening to me, or not?!"

"Yes! Sorry for interrupting!"

"Well. My friends and I are organizing an 'all shipgirls who wear glasses' group date, and we were wondering if you would be interested in-"

"Absolutely!" said Musashi, pounding the bar with her fist. Makigumo almost jumped right off her lap. About half the ships in the mess stopped eating to look at where the huge boom had come from. Akagi was not among that half. Nor were Kaga and Zuikaku, for they were locked in yet another staring contest. Musashi was about to make another statement, but she paused when she felt so many eyes on her. "Eh…um…" As the many eyes began to return to the food in front of them, Musashi seemed to regain her confidence, though Yamato discerned a blush crawling across her sister's cheeks.

Makigumo got down to the floor and took hold of a few of Musashi's long fingers, which filled her small hand. "Then…Musashi-san, why don't you come eat at our table?"

"Alright!" said Musashi, as she picked up her plate with her right hand. "See you later, Nee-san!" she said to Yamato.

"Have a good time, Musashi-chan - don't get too rambunctious, now!"

"Hya ha ha, fat chance!" said Jun'you, as she refilled Yamato's sake cup.

* * *

Houshou asked Akatsuki to crawl under the bar to check the top for any cracks.

Akatsuki grabbed Houshou's apron. "But I'm scared! It's dark in there!"

Houshou put her hands on Akatsuki's shoulders. "A first-class lady knows how to conquer her fears."

Akatsuki stood up straight, and puffed her chest out. "Ah, well, when you put it that way, I guess I could…" She grasped Houshou's apron again. "But what if she does it again?"

With an eerie calmness, Houshou said, "Fu fu fu~…she won't."

Over at the all-glasses table, Musashi felt the sudden urge to rub her upper arms for warmth. "Oof, I just got a chill."

Choukai, whose arms were also bare, said, "Really? I don't feel a draft. And Shimakaze-chan and Amatsukaze-chan are still here, so it wasn't them going past."

"Eh, whatever," shrugged Musashi. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "So, tell me more about this date we're having!"

"Well, Musashi-san," said Makigumo, "when Nagato-san announced that everyone would be on vacation, I…suggested for all the shipgirls who wear glasses to go on a group date together. …Sorry, but we don't really have much more planned than that, since we just came up with it a little while ago."

"Ha ha! Sounds like a bundle o' fun!"

"Not to get off topic," said I-8, "but you know, it seemed like a good idea when there was just the four of us, but having a group date with eight people seems kind of…big."

"We'd have to pay gratuity if we went out to eat," said Mochizuki.

"And we'd struggle to fit around a single table," added Ooyodo.

"I think the best strategy would be to break our force up, and go on multiple, smaller dates," said Choukai. She took her glasses off to wipe a smudge off her left lens.

"But how do we decide who goes out with who?" said Makigumo, quite concerned that she might be split from I-8.

"And in what order?" said Katori.

"Indeed, how," said Kirishima. "Why, my calculations indicate that there must be…" She gasped, her glasses nearly jumping off her nose. "Forty thousand, three hundred twenty combinations!"

"Eeeeh?!" squeaked Makigumo.

"Uwaah…" mumbled Mochizuki.

"So many!" said Musashi, moving in her chair as if to dodge the surprise.

But Ooyodo was unphased. "Kirishima-san, please think logically," she said, pulling her pocket computer from her pocket. "There are not eight-factorial combinations. The truth is that there are far fewer than that."

"Really?! Show me your calculations!" said Kirishima, adjusting her glasses and trying to get a better view of Ooyodo's computer's screen.

Ooyodo set her computer down on the table. "Well, to find out how many combinations there are, the first step is for each of us to draw a number from a hat."

So draw they did, though they used an empty instant repair bucket instead of a hat.

"Okay," said Ooyodo, "Let's count off, starting from one."

"One!" said Makigumo.

"Two!" shouted Musashi.

"Three," said Choukai.

"Four," said Ooyodo.

"I'm number five," said Kirishima.

"Six," said Katori, looking sideways at Musashi - the least-disciplined shipgirl she knew of.

"Mm? Ah, seven," murmured Mochizuki.

"Acht," I-8 said.

"Nine de~ss!" shouted Kongou, barely after I-8 finished. "Fufu~n!" she added, dipping a pair of black horn-rimmed spectacles with one finger.

"And I'm number ten, Onee-sama!" said Hiei with her hands clasped and hearts in her eyes, which were bespectacled by glasses that looked suspiciously similar to Kirishima's.

"Wait. There are impostors among us," said Ooyodo.

"No there ain't!" said Tenryuu, frowning uncomfortably to keep a monocle in her eye. "Half the glass, twice as cool, right? Fu fu fu! I'm _sooo_ scary!"

"And if a shipgirl's only got one good eye, why would she wear a whole pair of glasses, huh? One lens is way more badass!" added Kiso.

Tenryuu and Kiso high fived. "Badasscary!" they shouted with the utmost confidence.

Ooyodo set her elbow on the table and laid her head in her hand. "This isn't a contest."

"Wait, wait, wait. There are definitely some impostors in our midst," said Choukai. "Kongou, Hiei, Kiso…Tenryuu, what are you doing?"

"Oi," said Tenryuu, "why did you pause on my name?!"

"Kongou-oneesama," said Kirishima, "I'll be alright on my own this time."

"What?" said Kongou quizzically, in English.

"Don't ignore me!" shouted Tenryuu.

"Oneesama, this is a mission that will strengthen the naval base! By going on dates together, our base's glasses girls will form bonds that transcend the classes of ships! It is my duty to participate in this set of dates!"

Kiso and Tenryuu's eyes sparkled. "So coo~l!"

Kongou came over to Kirishima, hugged her, and patted her head. "Well, since this is so important to you, I guess I can't interfere, ne~."

"Not fair, Oneesama!" said Hiei. "Hug me too, me too~!"

"Then, let's go back to our place, Hiei. We can hug without restraint there, de~ss!"

Hiei quickly wrapped her arms around Kongou's arm. "Yes, Oneesama!"

Tenryuu wiped her mouth with the back of her glove. "Geh! To think that the grandma Kongou class would have someone so cool!" She slapped her hand on Kiso's shoulder. "Kiso! Clearly, we must study harder, to attain a higher level of coolness! To our secret hideout!"

"Let's go!" shouted Kiso. They ran out, bent forward with their arms behind them, like "ninjas." Their secret hideout was the corner of the base's library where all the shounen manga was kept.

"Now, with that interruption over," said Ooyodo, as she turned her pocket computer back on, "let us determine how many pairings there _actually_ are."

"How are we going to do it?" asked Makigumo.

"We'll use the great Matlab," said Ooyodo.

"Mattorabu?" asked Makigumo.

"You can't consider yourself a true glasses girl unless you know how to use the Matlab software suite," said Ooyodo, as the light glinted off her lenses. "This kind of problem is intermediate at most!"

"Makigumo wants to learn Matlab too!"

"Well, why don't I teach you during our date, then, Makigumo-chan?" Ooyodo said, smiling at Makigumo.

"Yes!" said Makigumo.

"Ah, it's ready," said Ooyodo. "Watch closely, Kirishima. I'm going to perform the calculation."

Kirishima adjusted her glasses expectantly.

"Now, the first thing is to input our group into Matlab. Each of us is represented by one of the numbers in this _megane_ vector, which is a series of numbers. By the way, each number in this vector is called an _element_ of the vector." As she said this, Ooyodo typed the following into her computer.

 _megane =_

 _[1_

 _2_

 _3_

 _4_

 _5_

 _6_

 _7_

 _8];_

"Then we use the ' _n choose k_ ' command to ask Matlab to take the vector _n_ and output all of the unique groups of _k_ elements that we can make from our _n_ vector. Here, we tell Matlab that the vector that we want to make pairs out of - _n_ \- is _megane_ , and that we want Matlab to make groups of two people - pairs - so we tell Matlab that we want to use 2 as our value of _k_."

 _pairs = nchoosek(megane,2)_

"Then Matlab gives us our unique pairs as a new vector, _pairs_."

 _pairs =_

 _1 2_

 _1 3_

 _1 4_

 _1 5_

 _1 6_

 _1 7_

 _1 8_

 _2 3_

 _2 4_

 _2 5_

 _2 6_

 _2 7_

 _2 8_

 _3 4_

 _3 5_

 _3 6_

 _3 7_

 _3 8_

 _4 5_

 _4 6_

 _4 7_

 _4 8_

 _5 6_

 _5 7_

 _5 8_

 _6 7_

 _6 8_

 _7 8_

"And if we ask Matlab how long our vector of pairs is, we have our answer."

 _length(pairs)_

 _ans =_

 _28_

"So, as we can see," Ooyodo said, "there are, in fact, 28 unique pairs that all of us can make. If I arrange the pairs like this, we see that we can fit all of the dates into one week, if we each go on one date per day." She wrote the following, and set her computer down on the table to show everyone:

Day 1: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

Day 2: 1-3, 2-4, 5-7, 6-8

Day 3: 1-4, 2-3, 5-8, 6-7

Day 4: 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8

Day 5: 1-6, 2-5, 3-8, 4-7

Day 6: 1-7, 2-8, 3-5, 4-6

Day 7: 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5.

"Amazing, Ooyodo-san!" said Kirishima.

"Nyahaha~! As expected of a true glasses girl like Ooyodo!" shouted Musashi, clapping deafeningly.

"Ooyodo-san, that was amazing!" said Makigumo.

Everyone else at the table echoed Ooyodo's praises. "I-i-it was…nothing," she said, her face feeling hot. And for a moment, she thought she made eye contact with Choukai, who was smiling at her quietly.

"Now that we have all the pairings for the dates figured out," said I-8, "where should our first date be to?"

"There's an amusement park nearby. I wanna go," said Mochizuki.

"That sounds like fun," said Makigumo.

"Agreed!" said Musashi, driving her large hand into the air with a whoosh.

Makigumo's eye caught a detail in the pairs that Ooyodo had written. "Ah…" she murmured dejectedly.

I-8 noticed Makigumo's sudden glumness, and asked, "What's the matter, Makigumo-chan?"

"My date with I-8-neesan is last."

"Then I suppose we'll have to save the best for last, huh, Makigumo-chan?"

"Yes!" Makigumo said, and she hugged I-8 for a moment, until she was picked up from behind by none other than Musashi.

"Nyahaha!" said Musashi. She tossed Makigumo in the air like a pizza to spin her around to face her, and thankfully, caught her. "It's you and me tomorrow, Makigumo-chan! Wha'd'ya think of that?"

"Musashi-san…I feel ill…"

"Ah…sorry…" Musashi gently lowered Makigumo to her feet. _Maybe going on that new DeathTwister 360 rollercoaster first thing isn't the best idea_ , thought Musashi.

"We should pack and head to the hotel," said I-8, to Makigumo, as she put her arm around Makigumo's shoulder.

"Yes!" said Makigumo.

* * *

Well, hello, everyone. This is the first of eight chapters of the first fanfic I've ever released. It took me 63 days to write, and the second and eighth chapters are already in development. I hope you liked it, and please let me know what I can improve on in subsequent chapters!

As to why I'm writing this fanfic, there are a few reasons. The first is that I love the Kancolle fandom. The second is that I wanted to encourage other authors and artists in the Kancolle community to think about pairings they may have never considered before, and I wanted to do it in a cool, technological way. And also, girls who wear glasses are cute. So I thought, "Why not use Matlab to ship all of the shipgirls who wear glasses?," and so this fic was born.

You might be asking yourself "Is everything in Matlab really vertical like that?" The answer is no, thankfully. The reason why I wrote all of Ooyodo's coding vertically is because I ran into a small frustration with formatting the _megane_ vector in the final version of the story for this site. In Matlab, it was originally oriented horizontally, like "[12345678]," but the document editor just wouldn't let me keep it inside the brackets if I wanted to put a space between each of the numbers, which is how it appears in Matlab. I didn't want to compromise the code's integrity, so I compromised and made the _megane_ vector vertical, which is still perfectly valid in Matlab, but doesn't look as nice in print.

And before you shout at me, yes, I know that Roma wears glasses. I started this fic before she was released, and I didn't feel like redoing the math and reshuffling the pairings just to fit her in. Eight chapters for a first fic is already many. Maybe I'll work her into an "All-foreign-ships group date" kind of story in the future.

Credit goes to tomato (lsj448867) for the cover image for this story.


	2. Chapter 0 point 5: The Road to the Hotel

After dinner, the group of eight decided the meeting time and place for tomorrow's date, then picked up their vouchers for their hotel stays from the Admiral's office. Then Musashi said that she was going out to party with Jun'you, Ashigara, Chitose, Ryuujou, and Unryuu, and bade the glasses group farewell. Similarly, Choukai said that she was going to have a quick drink with her sisters Maya, Atago, and Takao before meeting up at Mochizuki's place to head over to the hotel. Ooyodo said she had a few things to take care of before leaving the base, so she also bade the group farewell. The Kongou sisters were set to stay at a different hotel than Makigumo, Choukai, Mochizuki, and I-8, so Kirishima, too, left after saying her goodbyes.

* * *

In the destroyer dorms, Makigumo excitedly packed her bag with everything she thought she'd need for the week off, said "see you at the hotel" to her older sister Yuugumo, then dashed down the hall to Mochizuki's room. She found I-8, Mochizuki, and most of Mochizuki's sisters already there.

Yayoi greeted Makigumo by name, and Makigumo did the same. Makigumo liked Yayoi. Her stiff expression made her hard to approach, but she was really very nice. And good at board games, too.

I-8 noticed Makigumo. "Ah, good, you're here. Makigumo, could you help me pack Mochizuki's bag?" she asked.

"I-8-neesan, all I need is this," Mochizuki protested, holding up her Gamestation.

"Yayoi-san, which one is Mochizuki-chan's dresser?" asked Makigumo.

"This one," said Yayoi, as she walked over to the right side of the room, if you were looking in through the windows that were on the wall opposite to the doorway. "I'll help."

"Thank you, Yayoi-san!"

With Yayoi's help, Mochizuki was packed in just a few minutes. Then I-8, Mochizuki, and Makigumo decided to go get Choukai from Houshou's place.

* * *

When they arrived, Houshou's restaurant was empty except for the Takao class sitting at the bar and Houshou herself.

"Grrrrr, why did the Admiral split us between two hotels?!" said Maya, gripping her beer glass tightly. "We're not the Maya-Choukai and Takao-Atago classes! We're the _Takao_ class, all four of us! Why do we always get split up? Why can't we just all be together for once?!"

Choukai said, "Nee-san, you and I have very different uniforms from Takao-neesan and Atago-nee. You can't blame people for thinking we're from different classes."

"I wouldn't get mad if a destroyer or someone who didn't know us made that mistake, but the Admiral should know better! It's like the Admiral forgets on purpose!"

Takao was first to notice Makigumo and company coming in. "Oh! Good evening," she said in her velvet voice of voices.

Atago jumped off her bar stool, raised her arms, and shouted, "Pan paka pa~n!"

"Pan paka pan!" returned Makigumo, jumping and flapping her arms.

"Pan paka pa~n," returned Mochizuki, raising her arms just like Atago.

"…P-…pan paka pa~~n," said I-8, sheepishly, putting her hands up about halfway, earning a hearty laugh from Maya and a pleased chuckle from Takao.

Atago gave I-8 a thumbs up. "That was great, Hacchan!"

I-8 still felt embarrassed. "Th…thank you…"

"Well, I think I should get going," said Choukai, as she slid off her bar stool and walked toward the group who came to pick her up.

"Hey," said Maya, nudging Choukai's back, "don't forget your bag, now."

Choukai smiled, and took her bag from Maya. "Thanks, nee-san."

"Have a good time, Choukai-chan!" said Atago.

"Take care, Choukai-chan," said Takao.

* * *

As the four stepped out of the naval base's outer gate onto civilian soil, Makigumo recognized the distinctive height of a pair of battleships.

"Mutsu-san, Nagato-san!" she called out, running up to them. "Where are you headed to?"

"Oh, if it isn't Makigumo-chan!" said Mutsu. "We're just on our way to scope out the local elementarmph-!"

"Mutsu!" Nagato clamped her hand over Mutsu's mouth. Nagato cleared her throat. "E-um…Mutsu meant to say that we were going to look online…for uniforms…b-because we like to cosplay…as…as…elementary students." As she said this, Nagato's face became bright red.

 _Nagamo~n_ , thought Choukai, as the trio caught up to Makigumo.

Makigumo looked up at tall Nagato and adjusted her glasses. "Um, Nagato-san, isn't that kind of a strange habit?" she asked, not reading the mood.

"If you wanted to try on one of our sailor uniforms, you only needed to ask, Nagato-san," said Mochizuki, taking one of Nagato's large hands.

"Mmhmm," said Mutsu with a teasing tone, as she hugged Nagato's arm, "I'd like to see you try a sailor uniform on, too. Why don't you try one of Mochizuki-chan's on when we get to the hotel?"

Nagato ran away.

* * *

"Mutsu, you dummy," she said into Mutsu's chest, once Mutsu had caught up to her in the nearby empty alley she had bolted into and given her a big hug to say sorry. "Even if I wear a sailor uniform, I'll never blend in with the destroyers."

* * *

The four checked into the hotel without issue, and the group split up. Once they set their bags down in their rooms, Choukai went to the bar with Maya, I-8 went to the pool to hang out with I-19 and the other subs, and Makigumo came into Mochzuki's room to hang out, mostly out of habit.

 _Mm, my battery's down to 10 percent_ , thought Mochizuki, of her Gamestation. She reached over and unzipped the bag that I-8 and Makigumo had packed for her.

Makigumo opened the room's minifridge, to see what was in it.

"Haa-!" Mochizuki stopped, her eyes wide.

"Mochizuki?" called Makigumo, over her shoulder. "What's the matter?"

Mochizuki looked like she was about to cry. "I forgot my Gamestation charger!"

* * *

About an hour later, I-8 said to Mochizuki, "Now, properly thank Myoukou-san for going back to the base with you to get your charger, Mochizuki."

Mochizuki hugged Myoukou tightly. "Myoukou-sensei, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! You saved me! I swear I'll never fall asleep in class again!"

Myoukou hugged Mochizuki back, and petted her hair. "You're very welcome, Mochizuki-chan." _Though I'll believe Mochizuki-chan not falling asleep in class when I see it._

* * *

Here, have a second prologue chapter! Why not, right? This chapter plus the first prologue chapter ("The Setup") adds to the eight "date" chapters that I'm writing, which will make this fic a total of ten chapters long. Probably.

Real talk, though, I didn't know that Maya and Choukai were Takao and Atago's sisters until about a week ago. The truth is I never put two and two together because they look so different. Them looking vastly different makes sense, because the two pairs of ships were drawn by different artists: Mikoto Akemi drew Takao and Atago, and Parsley drew Maya and Choukai. What makes this (Kadokawa games's) choice strange in my mind is that despite having different artists, all four Takao sisters are voiced by the same Nao Touyama. What makes this even stranger in my book is that the Takao class isn't the only class that Kadokawa does this artist switcheroo with. A real standout example is the Fubuki class, who are all voiced by Sumire Uesaka and drawn (blandly, I might add) by Shibafu, except for splendid Murakumo, who is drawn by Ayaki, and looks much more like Amatsukaze or Shimakaze than her actual sisters. I like Kadokawa's decisions for Kancolle's art style, but I find it odd that they seem to be so strict with every ship in a class having the same voice actor, but fairly casual with mixing artists within classes. What do you guys think?


	3. Chapter 1: The Morning of the First Date

In the hotel that was located near the city's downtown, Yuugumo slid the hotel room's curtains open to reveal a sunny, clear morning that lit the inside of the room brightly. Hayashimo and Asashimo were fast asleep in the bed that was closest to the window. Back home, Makigumo had a habit of crawling under Yuugumo's covers almost every night, so, last night, Yuugumo had suggested that they just go to sleep in the same bed, since the the hotel room's beds were really big. And she liked to cuddle her little sister. Yuugumo walked over to the bed where she and Makigumo had slept last night, and sat on its long edge, next to Makigumo, who snored quietly.

She ran her fingers through Makigumo's messy hair. "Makigumo, it's morning."

Makigumo stirred a little, and stopped snoring, but didn't wake up.

Yuugumo kissed Makigumo on the forehead. "Wake up, Makigumo. It's morning."

Makigumo opened her eyes, and rubbed one of them. "Mnn…Onee…chan?" she mumbled groggily as she sat up.

"Good morning, Makigumo-chan. Did you sleep well?"

"Mm…mhmm…Where did I put my glasses?"

"Here you are."

"Thanks, Onee-chan."

* * *

Down the hall, I-8 woke up before the other subs in the room, who were I-19, I-58, and I-401. She rolled over to look at I-19. I-19 was drooling on her pillow with a happy look on her face. I-8 caressed I-19's cheek, and smiled to herself.

 _Well, I guess I'm awake_ , I-8 thought. She sat up, put her glasses on, and got off the bed. She didn't open the curtains, since she and her sisters had gotten to bed late last night, and she didn't want them to wake up too soon. As for what they had been doing so late…

* * *

11:30 pm, the previous night. After four hours, the subs had begun to tire of playing in the hotel's pool, and all the other ships who they could play with had left.

As I-19 caught the beach ball that I-58 threw to her, she had an idea. "Iiii-ku-ku-ku…" she snickered, covering her mouth, but not hiding the devilish look on her face.

"Hm? What is it, Iku-chan, dechi?" asked I-58.

"Ku ku ku…Iku just had an idea, na no."

The mischief in I-19's face spread to I-58's. She had seen I-19 make this kind of face before. She swam over to I-19, even though they were in the pool's shallowest section. "What is it, dechi?" she whispered.

"Let's sneak into another pool, no ne."

I-8 and I-401 came over soon enough to hear what I-19 said. "Ooh, that sounds like a good idea," said I-8.

"Eh?" I-401 said, surprised that the normally level-headed I-8 would agree to something like this. "Won't we get caught? That'd be bad, right?"

I-19 said, "It'll be fine, no ne!"

I-8 put her hand on I-401's shoulder and said, "We don't get to do things like this very often, do we, Shioi-chan?"

"That's right, dechi!" said I-58. "Something like this would never happen back on the base!"

I-401 reluctantly agreed.

* * *

I-8 sighed. _That was so much fun_ , she giggled to herself, scarcely believing she had gone along with I-19's proposition. _To think there was an elementary school with a pool within sight of the hotel!_

She used the bathroom, fixed her hair, polished her glasses, and then zipped open her suitcase.

Dressing was simple for the submarines. For example, I-19 had only to put on her bathing suit to consider herself ready to go outside. For I-401 [and I-58], it was this and the top half of a sailor uniform. For I-8, it was the swimsuit and a pair of thigh highs, and maybe her cap, if she felt stylish.

* * *

In a room on another floor of the hotel, the alarm clock went off. Ooyodo woke. She was alone, as usual.

She turned the alarm off, slid her glasses on, got up, and opened the curtains. She smiled. The weather looked like it was going to be good all day. She adjusted her glasses.

 _Oh. I don't think I bathed last night_ , thought Ooyodo. She stepped into the bathroom. This hotel was much nicer than she had expected. The bathroom was elegant, with harmonious proportions, understated textures, and subtle colors. The tub was deep, and big enough for about six people to soak in, and there was a separate shower.

Ooyodo started the shower, and adjusted the temperature to her liking. She took her nightclothes and glasses off, and stepped into the flow of water.

 _Ah, this showerhead is something else. It's like I'm in a rainforest._ Ooyodo just stood for a minute under the warm water. _I wonder if they're going to put things like this in the showers back at the base._

Ooyodo glanced at the various bottles that lined the shower's interior. She brought one that had a pleasing milky color up to her eye, so close that her nose grazed the bottle.

 _Conditioner._ She tried a bottle that held a clear peachy pink liquid. _Body wash._ Then a pale blue bottle. _Another body wash. Why are there so many body washes?_ Then a silvery one. _Finally. Shampoo._

She flipped open the top, and smelled the shampoo. _It's shampoo, alright. It smells nice, though._

Ooyodo lathered her hair, and her mind wandered. She liked the quiet calm of solitude, but wondered what fun, what sort of boisterous bathtime she'd be having right now with her many sisters if she were in, say, the Mutsuki or Fubuki classes. She thought of the other ships who, like her, were the only members of their classes.

There was Shimakaze-chan. Shimakaze-chan was an experimental ship, the only one of her class, but she and Amatsukaze-chan had arrived at the base on the same day, and though they claimed to be rivals, and competed in every little thing, even down to arguing over whose hair grew faster, they were never seen apart.

There were Kaga-san and Akagi-san, and Hiryuu-san and Souryuu-san. Each was their own class, but you seldom saw one without the other. Especially at mealtimes.

There was Ryuujou-san, and Taihou-san, and of course Houshou-san. She didn't know the first two very well, but she had to admit that was probably because she had never tried to talk to either of them.

There was Taigei-san, who worked with Tenryuu-san and Kiso-san at the base's kindergarten. Ooyodo thought Taigei-san was the head of the kindergarten because she knew that the navy paid Taigei-san more than Tenryuu-san and Kiso-san, who were paid identically. This was confidential information, but information that Ooyodo knew from working in the finance department and processing paychecks often.

There was also Yuubari-san, who worked in the maintenance and construction area of the base. Ooyodo knew little else about Yuubari, other than she looked friendly the few times she had seen her.

Ooyodo clenched a fist, and resolved to get to know Ryuujou, Taihou, Taigei, and Yuubari better.

* * *

On the same floor as Ooyodo's room, Choukai was trying to wake Maya up.

"Nee-san, wake up. It's morning already," said Choukai, as she shook Maya's shoulder and hip.

"Unghhh, my head huuurts," moaned Maya, who had already been sort of awake.

"Even though I said not to drink so much," said Choukai. "Really, Nee-san, it's not that big of a deal that we got split up from Takao-neesan and Atago-nee. It's not like we can't just go see them."

"Ungh…but I wanted to fall asleep with my face in Takao-neesan's bust…" said Maya, as she turned over onto her other side, away from the light of the window.

Choukai opened her mouth to tsukkomi what Maya had said, but she liked to be spoiled by Atago just as much as Maya loved to be spoiled by Takao, though she preferred lap-pillow over bust-pillow.

* * *

Kirishima realized she was awake, lying on her left side. And that her face was cushioned by Kongou's soft, warm bosom. She pulled closer. This was a privilege that Kongou bestowed upon her younger sisters nightly, with each of them taking turns, and occasionally fighting over whose night it was to snuggle with her.

 _Oneesama…_ Kirishima buried her face deeper in Kongou's cleavage, immersing herself in Kongou's warm, mature scent, which was not unlike subtly sweetened black tea.

She felt Kongou's hand on the back of her head, and heard quietly, just above a whisper, "Kirishima's a spoiled baby sister, ne~?"

Kirishima nodded. "Mm…"

Kongou stroked Kirishima's hair. "Well, that's just one of your charm points, I guess, dess." She asked, "Is it time for us to get up?"

Kirishima slowly shook her head, and took another big breath of Kongou.

"Alright," said Kongou in English, as she stroked Kirishima's hair. She quietly listened to the gentle rise and fall of Kirishima's body against her own, and to Kirishima's body heat, and to the slow breaths tickling her chest.

"Are you falling back asleep?" Kongou whispered.

Kirishima didn't respond.

 _Very spoiled_ , thought Kongou, as she hugged Kirishima a little closer. Her warmth under the blanket made Kongou fall back asleep, as well.

* * *

"Musashi-chan," said Yamato with her usual upbeatness, as she set the trays from the room service cart onto the table by the windows, "breakfast is here."

Musashi opened her eyes. She sniffed the air. "Breakfast!" she shouted, throwing her blanket off her body and springing out of the bed toward the breakfast table.

* * *

Down the hall from Musashi's room, I-8 was helping a rather groggy Mochizuki to get dressed.

"I-8-neesan, I'm tired, let me go back to sleep," murmured Mochizuki, as I-8 pulled a new bra down over her head.

"That's probably because you stayed up all night playing video games with Uzuki again," said I-8 firmly, as she buckled Mochizuki's bra.

"…Correct…" said Mochizuki guiltily, as she adjusted the fit.

* * *

Katori was staying at the hotel on the coast, where Takao, Atago, Houshou, the youngest destroyers, and the Kongou sisters were staying. She had called room service for breakfast.

She heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" she said, hurrying to the door, making sure her bathrobe was wrapped around her body.

When Katori opened the door, the young woman with the silver cart saw that Katori was much shorter than her - only about four foot four. The knee-length bathrobe she wore came down to her ankles. The young lady couldn't hold back a little snort of a laugh. "G-good morning, ma'am!" she said quickly, to try to cover it up.

"What's so funny?" Katori asked.

"N-n-nothing, nothing, ma'am!" the young lady said, making an attempt to wheel the cart into the hotel room.

"Aren't you a bit silly to be working at a fine hotel like this?" Katori asked, blocking the way. She glanced at her riding crop, which stood propped up in the corner by her bed. A plan hatched in Katori's mind. She walked over to retrieve her riding crop, saying, "But please, come in."

The young lady quickly wheeled the cart next to the round table that was next to the windows. She placed the silver platter on the table and lifted its cover to reveal a full English breakfast. "Here is your breakfast…ma'am…?"

Katori had closed the distance between the bed and the table. Deftly grasping her riding crop in her fingers, Katori touched its loop to the underside of the young lady's chin. "My name is Katori, but you may call me Mistress."

The young lady stood paralyzed. She blushed.

"I'll be here for one week, counting today. Say, you'll return here tonight at nine, won't you?"

With her eyes on the floor, the young lady reluctantly nodded.

"Good." Katori pointed to the door with her riding crop. "On your way."

The young lady took the cart and scurried out with it.

Katori sat down at the table, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She gazed out the window at the sea, and brought the cup up to her lips. It was delicious. Katori smiled. Today would be a good day.

* * *

After Makigumo had used the toilet, brushed her teeth, and washed her face, she asked Yuugumo to help her put her hair up into the twin buns that she liked to wear.

"You know you're old enough to do it yourself, Makigumo-chan," said Yuugumo, as she started to brush Makigumo's rowdy pink bedhead.

"But I like it better when Onee-chan does it," Makigumo protested.

"Hmmm~," Yuugumo said, "Makigumo says she's not a child anymore, but she's very spoiled when no one's looking."

"Mou~," pouted Makigumo indignantly, "so what if I like it when Onee-chan does my hair? That's normal for a little sister."

* * *

Kirishima woke to the "snapsnapsnapsnapsnap" of a camera shutter. She opened her eyes, and there was Hiei, her older sister, snapping pictures of her and Kongou's embrace with her special "Oneesama DSLR," and Haruna doing the same with her cell phone.

"Kyahaaa, such a heartwarming scene!" squeaked Hiei.

"Ah! We woke them up," said Haruna, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Good morning, everyone!" said Kongou, in English.

"Good morning, Hiei-oneesama, Haruna!" said Kirishima, feeling very refreshed.

* * *

Yamato brought a flattish white box over to the breakfast table, and set it in her lap. "Musashi-chan, I picked this up in a boutique the other day," she said as she lifted a light peach dress up out of the box to show Musashi, the white tissue wrapping paper crinkling. "Why don't you try it on?"

Musashi was skeptical. "Nee-san, that looks a little…frilly."

"Don't worry, Musashi-chan! I absolutely know it'll suit you!" Yamato stood up so Musashi could see the dress better. "See, it's even in your size!"

 _Nee-san seems pretty excited about this. And she even went through the trouble of getting it made to fit me…_ "I guess I'll try it on."

"Kya~!" cried Yamato, making a face like XD. "Musashi-chan is gonna be so cu~te for her date today!"

* * *

Now that Mochizuki was dressed, I-8 said, "Why don't we go see what Makigumo-chan is up to?"

Mochizuki perked up. "Yeah!"

"Now that I think of it, which room is Makigumo staying in?"

"Hmm…let me call her."

* * *

"Nee-san, what are you going to do today?" asked Choukai, of Maya.

"Nngh…I'll decide when the room stops spinning."

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"Some water would be good. And close the drapes."

Choukai drew the curtains, then pulled a refreshingly cool bottle from the room's minifridge, and opened the cap for Maya. "Here." She set the cap on the bedside table, next to the lamp.

"Thanks." Maya took a hefty drink.

"Well, I'm off, Nee-san. I hope you better soon."

"Are you gonna get dressed first?"

Choukai stopped, and looked down at her nightclothes. "O-o-o-of course! Of course I am! It's not like I was going to forget!"

"…Your hand was on the doorknob."

"Why don't you start sleeping off your hangover, Nee-san?"

* * *

Kongou sat on a chair in front of the mirror in the hotel room's bathroom, and Kirishima stood behind her, working on her hair, armed with hairspray and a hairbrush.

"Ne~, don't you think the bun on this side is a little loose, Kirishima-chan?" said Kongou. She hooked a finger inside the bun in question, which was behind her right ear, and pulled a little on it. It easily distorted to the point of unrecognizability. "It shouldn't be that easy to pull apart. Try again and make it like the one you did on the left side. See, this one is good and tight, dess."

"Yes, Oneesama," said Kirishima, as she brushed the lock that she was going to remake into Kongou's starboard bun.

Doing Kongou's hair in the mornings was another part of the ordered ritual performed by the sisters of Kongou. When her younger sisters were new to the base, Kongou had used this ritual as an exercise to teach them to take turns and delay their need for gratification. This evening, it would be Haruna's turn to wash Kongou's back, tonight, it would be her turn to cuddle with Kongou, and tomorrow morning, it would be her turn to style Kongou's hair.

"There," said Kirishima, "how is that, Oneesama?"

Kongou performed the same test as before. This time, the bun held up. "Good job, Kirishima-chan!" Kongou said in English, as she gave a thumbs up.

"Oneesama, let's go get some breakfast," said Kirishima, as she sprayed the bun with hairspray so that it'd keep its shape throughout the day.

"Oneesama, the tea's ready to go," called Haruna from the bedroom, holding a thermos of hot black tea she had just brewed in the room's kitchenette.

"Oneesama!" said Hiei. She just wanted to say it.

* * *

Ooyodo spread out the contents of her suitcase on her bed. She'd brought a few sets of her uniform and all of her civilian clothes, which were a grey skirt suit with a subtle pinstripe, a pair of jeans that she had received from last year's "secret Santa" event in the finance office, and a bright red blouse that…where the heck did she get this thing, again? She wouldn't have bought it for herself. The color was much too flashy, and so were the voluminous ruffles on the front. Ah, that's right! It was was a gift from Inazuma and the rest of the sixth desdiv that they had given her for her last launch day (which the shipgirls celebrated like birthdays).

For an event like today, a date, the only choices were the uniform or the pantsuit. Ooyodo thought of the date today. Her heart kicked as she remembered who her date was with.

"Choukai-san!"

* * *

Maya couldn't sleep, not with Choukai fussing about in the room. That she wasn't really tired didn't help either. "Mmm..." she grumbled, "didn't you say you had a date or something today? What's the deal with that?"

"I'm surprised you remember _anything_ I said last night, Nee-san." After a pause, Choukai said, "But yes, yes I do."

A teasing mood began to distract Maya from how shitty she felt. "Ho~u? Who's it with, huh?"

Choukai remembered. _Ooyodo-san!_ Her face went red, though Maya couldn't see this in the dark. "O-Ooyodo...-san..."

* * *

"Nee-san, help me put my sarashi on," said Musashi, when she finished corralling her hair into her usual "ears" and pigtails.

Yamato was in the middle of cleaning one of the lenses she used on her camera. She, Hiei, and Aoba were the officers of the base's photography club. Hiei and Yamato took pictures of their sisters. Aoba took pictures of everyone else. "I know you know how to do it yourself, Musashi-chan. Can it wait a minute?"

"Nee-san, I…I feel so _naked_ without my sarashi," said Musashi, hunching her shoulders and crossing her arms over her chest, milking the moment for all she could get out of it.

Yamato's heart began to pound. "W-well, I guess it can't be helped, then! Come over here, Musashi-chan!"

Musashi walked over to the table, where Yamato sat, and said, "So what if I want you to help me with it?" even though Yamato hadn't asked. "That's normal for a little sister, isn't it?" she said as she handed her sarashi to Yamato.

"Yes, yes," said Yamato, as she began to wrap the cotton sash around Musashi's torso.

* * *

Makigumo opened the door for I-8 and Mochizuki.

"Pan paka pan!"

"Pan paka pan~!"

Makigumo and Mochizuki high fived with both hands, though the fabric of Makigumo's sleeves attenuated the sound to a soft "pah."

Makigumo hugged I-8. "I-8-neesan! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Makigumo-chan," said I-8, as she hugged Makigumo back. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes!"

"Are you excited for today?"

"Yes!"

"How about we go downstairs and get some breakfast?"

"Yes!"

"Breakfast!" said Mochizuki.

* * *

Ooyodo straightened the lapels of her suit jacket. When the Admiral had presented her with this suit for her first launch day after she had come to the base, she had felt so proud.

"In recognition of your hard work and successes in the finance department in the short time you've been with us, we present this gift to you, Ooyodo-san," the Admiral had said.

 _I'm hungry_ , Ooyodo realized. She decided to go down for breakfast.

* * *

"Nee-san, how does this look?" asked Choukai, of Maya, about the graphite-with-subtle-blue-pinstripe pantsuit she had dressed herself in.

"Fine," Maya mumbled.

"You didn't even look!"

"Don't you need to get going soon?"

Choukai looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was 9:03. "Ooh, you're right. I really should get some breakfast and go."

* * *

"Myoukou-sensei, good morning!" chirped Makigumo as she, Mochizuki, and I-8 entered the hotel's restaurant.

Myoukou sat with her sisters at a table near the middle of the room. Breakfast had already wound down for the Myoukou class, and they were sating the last of their hunger with sweet fruit and strong coffee. Myoukou turned her head in Makigumo's direction, and smiled. "Well, if it isn't two of my precious students," she said.

I-8 and the other submarines were a minority in the naval base, in that none of them had ever been taught by Myoukou, a rite of passage that almost everyone on the base could lay claim to. Because submarines functioned so differently on the battlefield than surface ships, and also because the subs were relatively few, new subs were taught by veteran subs in a master-apprentice fashion instead of in a classroom. So Myoukou and I-8 knew of each other, but had never really become acquainted.

"And good morning to you, too, I-8-san," Myoukou added, bowing politely.

"Good morning, Myoukou-san, Nachi-san, Haguro-san, Ashigara-san," I-8 said, bowing to each cruiser in turn.

"Morning," said Nachi, raising her hand.

"Good morning!" said Ashigara, waving cheerfully.

"Goo-...good mor...ning," mumbled Haguro, avoiding eye contact.

Nachi, who sat to Haguro's left, nudged Haguro, and whispered to her, "Go on, give it another try."

Haguro stood up, and said more forcefully, "Good morning!" with her hands clasped in front of her. She blushed and quickly sat down.

The submarine and the two destroyers bowed again, and I-8 took them to find a table.

Haguro sat down again, and clasped her hands in her lap, very embarrassed.

"That was good," said Nachi.

"R-really?"

"Of course."

Haguro smiled at Nachi.

Nachi and Haguro were one of the base's few monogamous couples. Nachi didn't like being physically affectionate in public, but she did like to go out with Haguro as much as they could, even if it was just to Mamiya's izakaya. Haguro valued Nachi's strength and compassion, and Nachi enjoyed Haguro's considerable domestic abilities, and wanted to help Haguro realize the extent of her own strength. Ashigara was, unusually for a shipgirl, exclusively interested in men, and was single at the moment (and looking). Myoukou had a few girlfriends at the base, including Tokitsukaze, Suzuya, and, if you believed the rumors, Houshou - but nothing serious going on at the moment.

Just as I-8, Makigumo, and Mochizuki got settled in their cushy booth, they saw Ooyodo come in.

"Ooyodo-sa~n!" cried Makigumo as she waved, her loose sleeve lolling about.

Then Choukai came in.

"Choukai-sa~n!" Makigumo also beckoned. "Choukai-san, Ooyodo-san, over here!"

Choukai and Ooyodo noticed each other. And blushed. _She looks good in that suit_ , each thought of the other. _Ah! If I'm caught staring-_ They quickly averted their eyes from each other.

Choukai and Ooyodo joined Makigumo, I-8, and Mochizuki at their table, and had a rather tense breakfast, especially since they ended up sitting across from each other.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I'm thinking of breaking each date day up into multiple chapters to make them more manageable, as I've done with this chapter.


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